Soccer stadium, semi-pro team in works for Victorville

VICTORVILLE — Plans are in the works for a new soccer stadium adjacent to Victor Valley College, which will draw the first semi-professional team to the area.

"It'll basically be soccer central for the High Desert," said David Jackson, a coach with the Southern California branch of the national non-profit soccer club Rush, which will fund and operate the fields.

The planned facility will include one artificial turf field with stadium seating and lighting for night games, six grass fields, locker rooms and more. It would take the place of VVC's current field, with additional space taken up to the south and west.

The stadium is a joint venture with VVC and So Cal Rush, but it would be far from exclusive to the college. Instead it would serve as a community facility, offering camps and tournaments for local kids along with practice and exhibition space for a semi-professional women's team the club hopes to start locally. The team will play in the Women's Premier Soccer League and will be called So Cal Rush.

"Having that team here will actually bring in teams from all over the world," Jackson said, with the Mexican Women's National Team scheduled to come to Victorville at the end of next May.

The club has also scheduled six tournaments for 2009, which will bring in roughly 14,000 young soccer players total. Jackson said the tournaments will happen even if the stadium doesn't, at local parks where the club has hosted matches for the past five or so years. But he remains confident that the project will be successful.

"We are very interested in the concept," said VVC's athletics director Jaye Tashima. "It would be great for the college and the community. We're not seeing anything on the downside with it."

VVC currently has one women's soccer team and one men's soccer team. The availability of more field space would allow them to expand and enhance their program.

Jackson said the club already has a verbal agreement with VVC and has begun engineering plans for the project, with hopes to complete construction by next April.

So Cal has done similar ventures, building other stadiums around the country. They currently offer clubs in 21 states across the country, serving more than 38,000 kids.

"Soccer in the states is so young," Tashima said, "but it's growing."

She's excited about the potential to expose local kids to some of those types of events.

"Soccer is so affordable to play. All you need are some shoes and a ball and off you go."

So Cal Rush is expected to bring a more detailed proposal back to VVC very soon, so that contracts can be signed and the plans can become official — though that's not slowing the soccer club down one bit.

"We're moving full speed ahead," Jackson said.

For more information, go to www.SoCalRush.org.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at 955-5358 or at bedwards@vvdailypress.com.